What's This Thing Called "Culture"?

A culture statement is used as a guide for a business entity to foster a congruent relationship with the people it works with. The culture within an organisation will attract a certain style of person to it (good or bad, productive or non-productive) and you can control this attraction by having a stated or desired culture and management working to maintain that culture within the organisation.

Culture / Values are beliefs which owners, management and employees hold in common and endeavour to put into practice. The culture guides management and employees in performing their work. Specifically, you should ask, "What are the basic beliefs that we share as a business?"

Just imagine a business employing a manager to operate the business. How dramatically would the business change under the following two different management styles!

General Manager #1

Manager #1 has an autocratic style and has always believed that employees steal from them, don’t work toward the best interest of the business and are only there for their self-interest. This manager does not believe that any of the staff are responsible enough to take on any task without full supervision. Manager #1 believes that their suppliers are trying to overcharge and under deliver and are always late with delivery. They also believe that their customers are out to take advantage of them and are always accusing them of wrongful dealings.

General Manager #2

Manager #2 involves the supervision staff members in their decision making process and treats all staff with respect. Manager #2 still makes the decision and does so with efficiency and the full loyalty of their staff members. Manager #2 understands that 95% of most problems arising in the workplace are system related and finds ways to combat and correct any problems. Manager #2 believes that the staff are doing the best that they can and given the choice only want to see the business improve.

In the example above the manager would create a culture for the business. If a culture is not designed for the business and that culture adhered to then the culture will be randomly selected by the management staff in place … mainly by their undying personality.

Icon Business Solutions have designed a culture for the business to foster growth and cooperation and believe that we will all benefit from adhering to the cultural attributes in place… therefore a culture statement has been designed to support us in our endeavours.

What’s yours?